To bathe a bed confined invalid person one must physically lift the invalid person and transport the invalid person to a bath tub, or as is done most of the time, the invalid person must be bathed while in bed. In the case where bathing in bed is necessary and the invalid person is a woman and has lost control of her legs, bathing of the area between the thighs is extremely difficult, since it is necessary to spread and retain the legs in spreaded relation while the area is bathed. This process generally requires two persons - one to hold the legs in spreaded relation and one person to bathe the perineum area.
Some prior art devices exist which attempt to provide a foot support for bed confined persons so that the person may be prevented from sliding down in the bed. Generally, these foot rest devices are cumbersome devices which are disposed for being clamped or otherwise secured to the foot of the bed. Such foot rests normally require tools and/or some mechanical expertise for attachment and removal from the bed. Additionally, the foot rests are designed to prevent a person from sliding down in the bed and are usable when the person's back has been elevated and the person tends to slide down in the bed. In order for the device to prevent such sliding, the confined person must have some use of his or her legs and must be capable of exerting a certain amount of leg pressure against the foot rest to prevent the sliding. Therefore, if a person has lost control of his or her legs such foot rests are useless for their intended purpose. U.S. Pat. Nos. 777,820, 931,908, 1,067,733, 1,365,750, 1,694,095, and 3,866,251 disclose several of such prior art devices for providing a foot support for a bed confined person.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a device for aiding in bathing the region of the body in the perineum area of a bed confined invalid person.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a device which will support the legs of the invalid person in spreaded relation to permit access to the perineum area.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a device which will serve as an aid in bathing the bed confined person's perineum area.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such a device which is portable and disposed for unsecured support on the bed of the invalid person.